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H..E. SAVAGE.

VEHICLE.- APPLICATION FILED MAR. 11. 1919.

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H. E. SAVAGE.

VEHICLE- APPLICATION FILED MAR. I7. 1919.

1,3 1 1,420. Patented J uly 29, 1919.

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fizz-Z? d% f2 .erence being had to HOWARD E. SAVAGE, OF BOST on,mnssncnusnr'rs.

VEHICLE.

To all whom it may concern: Be it'lmown that I, HOWARD E. SAVAGE, acitizen of the United States, ton, in the county of Suffolk and State ofMassachusetts, have. invented certain new and useful Improvements inVehicles; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, andexact description of the same, refthe accompanying drawings, forming apart of this speci cation, and to reference characters marked thereon.My invention relates to improvements in vehicles, and has for its objectto provide more particularly, a toy vehicle of the velocipede type, thebody or seat of which may be easily adjusted, in a horizontal position,to

any one of several possible heights above the -of difierent sizes,whereby to accommodate children the childs feet may be suitably engagedwith the running surface, and by a paddling or walking motion propel-thevehicle in any desired direction.

Another object of my invention is to provide as large a forward, orsteering wheel, as possible, and materially larger thantherearwheels, inorder to give an easier rolling tendency, upon a be obtained by the useof relatively small wheels, all of the same diameter.

A further object of my invention is to provide a sliding plate at thefront or head running surface,

' end of the body to carry the steering post,

7 improved inclined rear Wlll whereby the same may be adjusted todifferent positions to accommodate children having arms of differentlengths, and an body support which give an increasing wheel base to thevehicle as the body is adjusted to its higher positions.

To these and other ends, the invention consists in certain improvementsand combi- I nations of parts, all of which are hereinafter which thisinvention appertains,

stand how to make and use the same, I W1ll' more completely described,the novel feature being pointed out in the claims at, the end of thespecifications. In order that those skilledin' the art to mayunderdescribe its construction and combination of elements.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is atop plan view showing the residing at Bos-.

Specification of Letters Patent.

. body adjusted to its minimum runnlng surface, than can height.

Patented July 29, 1919.

Application med March 17, 1919. Serial No. 283,005.

body of the vehicle adjusted at its minimum Fig. 2 is'a top plan view ofthe front or head end of the body at the position indicated upon Fig. 3by the line and arrows 2-2, showing also a cross section of the steeringpost.

Fig. 3 isa side elevation showing the height, and with the steering postset at its nearest point to the rear end of the body.

Fig. 4 is a side elevation showing the body adjusted to its maximumheight, and with the steering post set at its farthest position from therear end of the body, a portion 'of the forward parts of the vehiclebeing shown in section.

Fig. 5 is a front elevation showing the body adjusted to its minimumheight.

Fig. 6 is a fron elevation showing the body adjusted to its maximumheight.

Fig. 7 is a rear elevation showing the body adjusted to its maximumheight.

Fig. 8 is a rear elevation showing the body adjusted to its minimumheight.

Similar reference characters throughout the several views indicate thesame parts.

On the drawings I have shown, most clearly in Fig. 1, a seat board, orbody member 10, a portion of which is comparatively narrow 11, to permita child to easily straddle the vehicle when operating the same. A widerpart 12 at the rear forms a seat, and an enlarged portion 13 at theopposite end forms the head end.

In the head end is an enlarged longitudinal aperture 14, most clearlyshown in Fig. 2, with semi-circular ends, adapted to receive thesteering post 15, and to allow it to move forward and backward therein.Two parallel, narrow, longitudinal slots 16 one on each side of theaperture 14, act as guides for the sliding head plate 17 most'clearlyshown in Fig. 4, by'means of the countersunkbolts 18 with washer and nut19 on the underside of the body 13. The bolts 18 may be tightly fastenedat any point in the slots, holding the steering post securely at thatposition. The sliding head plate 17 is made tapering with the thick endat the front. Through this plate 17 passes a circular hole adapted topermit a reduced part of the steering a The bolt tapermg head plate post25 to revolve therein. On the underto the steering post by means of thebolt washers and nut 26. The steering post 15has a deep longitudinalslot or bifurcation extending from the bottom end to a underside of thehead end, forming a steering fork. This fork has the scarfed-oif surface20 through which pass a series of equally spaced round holes 24:directly opposite each other in the two prongs, and adapted to receivethe bolt or pin 22, with washer, and cotter pin 23. 22 acts as an axlefor the large, front steering wheel 21, said steering wheel 21 being atrifle larger in diameterthan the length of the bifurcation in thesteering post 15 so that the bottom end of the steering post 15.willalways clear the running surface. The axle 22 may be inserted throughany of the holes 24to adjust the wheel to any position in relation tothe body, which will correspond with a certain adjustment of the rearwheel carrier 39 to give a horizontal position to'the body, at thedesired height above the running surface, or the body, if so desired,may be adjusted to a sloping position.

The rear body support or bolster 29 is fastened to the body 12, by meansofscrews 30, and rigidly braced by means of the brace 31, and screws 32,33 and 34; 34: having a counter-sunk head to allow the rear wheelcarrier 39 to lie flat against the bolster 29. The-bolster 29 is placedin a backward inclined position to aid in obtaining a greater wh'eelbase as the body of the vehicle is raised from its lowest to its higherpositions. This purpose is also partly accomplished by the forwardsloping steeringpart 15, made possible by the 17, with its inclinedsupportlng surface, on 7 may be clearly seen in Figs.3'and 4:.

The rear wheel carrier 39 carries two small wheels, 40 with large screws41. acting as axles. The carrier 40 is made wide, in order to permit theaction-of a childs feet inside of the wheels, and to give-x greaterstability and less tipping tendency to thevehicle. The bolster 29 hasthrough it a series of equally spaced, round holes, 36 in two parallelvertical rows. The rear wheel carrier 39 has fastened to it, andprojecting from it, two bolts 35 adapted to aline with the holes 36, toenter any horizontal pair of these holes and by means with handle bars28 and bolted construction,

the bottom. side, as

of the win nuts 38 with washers 37 beneath, to e securely bolted to'thebolster 29. The holes 36 in the bolster 29 are so located that they willcorrespond with the holes 24 in the steering fork 15 to give ahorizontal position to the body in the several diflerent levels possibleby adjustment of both ends of the vehicle.

lit will thus be clearly observed that the vehicle here described, is ofsimple, rigid easily adjusted to. accommodate children of difi erentages or sizes, having a considerable range of adjustability, greatstability, and an easy running ten dency.

While I have indicated the preferred form of, my childs vehicle it isvery evident that minor changes in its design may, for manufacturing orcommercial reason, be made, without departing from the spirit of myinvention.

I claim: v

1. The combination in a childs vehicle of a body having a sliding headplate in which a forwardly inclined steering post is rotatably carried,said head vplate being tapering with the thick end at the front, inorder to give the desired forward inclination to the steering post, andhaving a circular recess or counterbore concentric with the steering 0ston its under side adapted to act as a caring-or supportingsurface totake the upward thrust steering post; said head plate being adjustablyattached to the body and adapted. to slide forward or back, carrying thesteering post with it, with bolts and nuts for clamping the same to thebody, said bolts working in two. parallel, longitudinal slots, one ongaeih side of a steering post aperture in the of a steering post havinga long bifurcation,

of a shoulderon the same diameter as the length of said bifurcation, aseries of equally spaced, transverse, round holes, passing through bothprongs of the steering post, formed by the said bifurcation, adapted toreceive an axle, upon which a wheel may revolve at any one of theseveral positions offered by said series of holes, in said prongs, and arear body bolster having a series of equally spaced round ,holes, in twovertical rows, passing through it, adapted to receive two bolts projecting from a rear wheel carrier, at any one of the several positionsoffered by said series of holes in said bolster.

3. The combination ina childs a body having a forward inclined steeringpost, and an inclined bolster permanently attached to the body, at aconstant backward angle to the same, and containing a series vehicle ofof round, equally spaced holes, 1n two vertii 105 2. The combination ina childs vehicle cal parallel rows passing through the samefrom earner,thereto, and

front to back, a removable rear wh with wheels j rotatabl) attachedhaving two bolts with threaded- 5 ends, attached to the mn ao eel same,adapted to register with the series of holes in the bolster, whereby thesaid wheel carrier may be securely clamped in a horizontal position tothe bolster, at any one ofthe several ositions offered by said series ofholes, the its 10 being provided with wing nuts and washers as a meansof fastening.

In testimony whereof, I afiixed my signature.

HOWARD E. SAVAGE.

have hereunto

